I'll rechime, I've got plenty of sidepull calipers from the 70's.. all stop very very well.. not shocking they're from touring bikes. I also have some center pull mafac racers, when dialed in epic stopping power for the era.. my dual pivot early 90's shimano brakes certainly stop better, but I splurged for better brakepads for them otherwise they're on par with the others when dialed in, crummy brakes are crummy brakes no matter the era, and if you REALLY want to stop with an old caliper, throw some mtb levers on with them and don't cry to me if you crush your rim